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De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas
De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas mierda is the first full-length studio album by Norwegian black metal band Mayhem. Songwriting began as early as 1987, but due to the suicide of vocalist Pelle and murder of guitarist Øystein "Euronymous" Aarseth, the album's release was delayed until May 1994. De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas is widely considered one of the most influential black metal albums of all time. Background and recording 1987–91 Mayhem began writing songs for the album in 1987, with vocalist Dead composing the lyrics. In 1990 or 1991, studio versions of the songs "The Freezing Moon" and "Carnage" were recorded, appearing on the CBR Records compilation album Projections of a Stained Mind.Various Artists: Projections of a Stained Mind, CBR Records 1991. Mayhem drummer Jan Axel "Hellhammer" Blomberg claimed that the lyrics of the song "Freezing Moon" are "meant to make people commit suicide". Dead said in a 1989 interview—done by Marduk guitarist Morgan "Evil" Håkansson and published in Slayer fanzine—that by then he had written the lyrics for "Funeral Fog", "Freezing Moon", "Buried by Time and Dust" and "Pagan Fears".Evil: Mayhem. In: Jon Kristiansen: Metalion: The Slayer Mag Diaries. Brooklyn, NY: Bazillion Points Books 2011, p. 290. Finished versions of these songs appeared on the album Live in Leipzig, a concert recording from November 1990 which was released in 1993. By 1991, Dead and Euronymous were living in a house in the woods near Kråkstad, which was used as a place for the band to rehearse. On 8 April 1991, while left alone in the house, Dead slit his wrists and throat and then shot himself in the head with a shotgun. He left a brief suicide note, which apologized for having used the gun indoors and ended with: "Excuse all the blood". The body was found by Euronymous. Before calling the police, he allegedly went to a nearby shop and bought a disposable camera with which he photographed the body, after re-arranging some items.Michael Moynihan, Didrik Søderlind: [http://web.archive.org/web/20090203062652/http://thetruemayhem.com/interviews/previous/hh-lords.htm Interview with Hellhammer taken from the book Lords Of Chaos]. One of these photographs was later used as the cover of a bootleg live album called Dawn of the Black Hearts.Dan Zimmer: [http://web.archive.org/web/20090205213017/http://thetruemayhem.com/interviews/previous/hh-sod.htm Interview with Hellhammer taken from Sounds Of Death Magazine]. In time, rumors spread that Euronymous had made a stew with bits of Dead's brain and had made necklaces with bits of his skull. The band later denied the former rumor, but confirmed that the latter was true. Moreover, Euronymous claimed to have given these necklaces to musicians he deemed worthy, which was confirmed by other members of the Norwegian black metal scene. Mayhem bassist Jørn "Necrobutcher" Stubberud, disgusted by Euronymous's behavior towards Dead, left the band. Thus, after the suicide, Euronymous was the only original member left, and the only member besides drummer Hellhammer. 1991–94 To record the new album, Euronymous first recruited Occultus (Stian Johanssen), to record both vocal and bass tracks; however, he stayed in the band just for a few months, leaving after receiving a death threat from Aarseth himself. Thus, he engaged three more session musicians, Attila Csihar (from Hungarian band Tormentor) as vocalist, Varg "Count Grishnackh" Vikernes (who performed solo as Burzum) as bassist, and Blackthorn (Snorre W. Ruch, playing solo as Thorns) as rhythm guitarist. In 1992, Vikernes was behind three church arsons in Norway. This lineup—Euronymous, Hellhammer, Attila and Vikernes—recorded the album during late 1992 and early 1993 at the Grieg Hall in Bergen. However, the album itself contains no information on line-up and credits. Necrobutcher, who had left the band before the recording sessions, claims to have written half of the songs for the album. He claims that he and Dead wrote "Freezing Moon" and Euronymous only contributed one riff to that song.Mayhem. In: Slayer, no. 14, summer 2000, p. 77. Snorre "Blackthorn" Ruch (who performed solo as Thorns) wrote some of the riffs for the album and finished some of Dead's song lyrics, according to himself and Hellhammer.Sonderkrig, Agnes: THORNS. Voices from the Darkside (zine).[http://panzer.users5.50megs.com/articles/Mayhem/Terrorizermagazine.htm Interview with Necrobutcher and Hellhammer taken from Terrorizer magazine #45] The main riff of the Thorns song "Into the Promised Land" (also called "Lovely Children") became the main riff of "From the Dark Past"."Thorns - Grymyrk/Trondertun". LARM. According to Vikernes, Euronymous was responsible for most of the guitar riffs, but he claims that Hellhammer, Necrobutcher and himself contributed some riffs too.Chris Mitchell: [http://www.burzum.org/eng/library/2005_interview_metalcrypt.shtml Interview with Varg Vikernes (10.05.2005), by Chris Mitchell], accessed on 2 December 2012. On 10 August 1993, Vikernes and Blackthorn traveled to Euronymous's apartment in Oslo, where Vikernes stabbed Euronymous to death.Darcey Steinke: "Satan’s Cheerleaders". In: SPIN. February 1996. He was arrested and sentenced to 21 years in prison, and Blackthorn to 8 year of imprisonment for felony murder.Varg Vikernes: [http://www.burzum.org/eng/library/a_burzum_story02.shtml A Burzum Story: Part II - Euronymous]. Burzum.org During Vikernes's trial, police said that they had found explosives and ammunition in Vikernes's home. Euronymous and Vikernes had allegedly plotted to blow up Nidaros Cathedral, which appears on the album cover, to coincide with the album's release. Vikernes denied this allegation in a 2009 interview, stating "I was getting explosives and ammunition in order to defend Norway if we were attacked any time. During the Cold War, the United States and the Soviet Union could have decided to attack us". After Euronymous's funeral, Hellhammer and Necrobutcher worked on releasing the album. Euronymous's parents asked Necrobutcher to remove the bass tracks recorded by Vikernes. Necrobutcher said, "I thought it was appropriate that the murderer and victim were on the same record. I put word out that I was re-recording the bass parts, but I never did". The album was eventually released in May 1994, around the time that Vikernes was sentenced. It features the last lyrics written by Dead before his suicide, and the last songs recorded by Euronymous before his murder. After 1994 In 2009, Mayhem released the EP Life Eternal: rough mixes of five songs from the De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas recording session. Title and artwork The title De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas is a Latin phrase meaning "about/of Lord Satan's mysteries/secret rites".Markheim: [http://heavylatin.blogspot.com/2008/04/mayhem-de-mysteriis-dom-sathanas.html Mayhem - De mysteriis Dom Sathanas]. Heavy Latin web blog. The album cover is a monochrome photo of the east side of Nidaros Cathedral in Trondheim, Norway. Reception De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas is widely acclaimed as one of the masterpieces of the black metal genre, and its bleak aesthetics and lyrics have often been cited as an inspiration by other black metal groups. IGN included De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas in their "10 Great Black Metal Albums" list. While Mayhem's previous vocalist had been Swedish, Attila Csihar was from Hungary. His style was somewhat atypical for Nordic black metal then, and has provoked a mixed reception from fans; for example, Metalreviews.com gave him the nickname "Attila 'Fingernails' Csihar" (although a subsequent review by the website praised his later, Ordo Ad Chao-era performances). The song "Freezing Moon" was included on Kerrang! 25 Extreme Metal Anthems and has been covered live and in studio by such bands as Dissection (Jon Nödtveidt and Ole Öhman also performed the song with Euronymous in 1991),Andrea Biagi: [http://web.archive.org/web/20031005065926/http://www.dissection.nu/biography.htm Biography Part One. "The First Era"]. Immortal, Dark Funeral, Carpathian Forest, Gorgoroth, Vader, Enslaved,Various Artists: Originators of the Northern Darkness – A Tribute to Mayhem, Avantgarde Music 2001. Cradle of Filth and Darkmoon. "Funeral Fog" was covered by Emperor with Csihar on vocals.Attila Csihar: The Beast Of, Cacophonous Records 2003. Track listing All songs written and composed by Mayhem. Personnel *Euronymous (Øystein Aarseth) – lead guitar *Hellhammer (Jan Axel Blomberg) – drums Session musicianshttp://www.metal-archives.com/albums/Mayhem/De_Mysteriis_Dom_Sathanas/254 *Attila Csihar – vocals *Count Grishnackh (Varg Vikernes) – bass, lyrics *Blackthorn (Snorre Ruch) – rhythm guitar, lyrics References External links *Mayhem - De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas at Metal Reviews Category:1994 albums